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If you are a family member looking for guidance in supporting your loved one, Mentorship Connections can help. Mentors may be able to assist you in:
- Acquiring reliable/valuable resources they have used,
- Offering advice,
- Answering questions from someone who has already been through the process,
- Deciding on "the next step" in your process
Available Mentors by Category
Foreign Workers: - My wife and I care for my brother David (middle aged) in our home. We both work and employ a live-in caregiver to assist us during weekday working hours. Our caregivers have been hired under the Government of Canada's Foreign Worker Live-in Caregiver Program. Caregivers are required to have a minimum of 6 months caregiving training by an accredited overseas agency, are required to live in their employer's home, must be provided with their own furnished room, must be employed for at least 44 hours per week and can only work for one employer at a time. After 2 years employment, they are eligible to apply for permanent residency. Minimum hourly rates (currently $9.62/hour) and maximum room and board deductions (currently $336/month) are set by HRSDC. We engaged a specialized personnel agency to help us find a caregiver and to handle the application process although we are aware of another family who have done this on their own. The process can take many months depending on where the caregiver resides; if hiring directly from the Philippines, it can take a year or more. Caregivers wishing to change employers are sometimes available locally on shorter notice, but we understand that this is relatively rare, so advanced planning is required. This has worked very well for us, allowing us to employ qualified staff with high personal standards who have become like family to us. I would be pleased to help anyone who needs advice or suggestions on pursuing this course of action.
Bruce Koliger
- My wife and I have a 25 year old daughter that lives with us in our home. We both work full time in the health industry. Our daughter attends a day program Mon-Fri. During the day but requrires attention prior to and after her program hours. She also needs to be accompanied to and from her program on the DATS bus. We have always had a live-in caregiver for our daughter. Some have stayed as few as 2 years, others as many as 6 years. We have a lot of experience in recruiting caregivers and keeping them happy during their employment with us. We have only had to pay an agency once for assistance in hiring. We have since been able to recruit and do the government paperwork on our own. Some of our previous caregivers remain in touch with us and they are a great source of possible candidates for hire. We are also very pleased with our relationship with PDD and we greatly appreciate the funding they provide our daughter. We have heard many sad stories about how funding was not available for persons with disabilities, but our experience with PDD has been nothing but positive. We would be available to assist anyone in their approach to PDD and also answer some questions with respect to live-in help.
Marshall and Joan Berezanski
Guardianship/Trusteeship:
- I am a lawyer at the Public Trustee Office and have an adult daughter who is mentally disabled. While I can't give you legal advice, I can provide you with information on trusteeship, guardianship or the court process.
Kim Villella
Using a Broker: - My name is Vickie Mancini. A young man and his family hired me as a support broker about three years ago. Although we didn't know much about it then, now I believe Support brokerage is a unique way of supporting someone and their family that allows the opportunity for family to be family rather than support providers.Roommates, parents, support broker and the young man all work as a team. Currently, I recruit, hire, train, and "supervise" roommates so that the young man who hired me can live a life of citizenship devoid of labels as much as possible. As well, I invoice PDD, write the year end reports, plan meetings, record minutes, and keep records. As well I am a sounding board for his parents. . I think that each support brokerage contract would be unique and fitted to the familiies needs and wants.
Vicki Mancinni
Creative Homes/Accommodations: - Using a Broker and Homes/Housing
Our son’s strong desire to gain independence and our desire to help him reach his dream drove us to Family Managed Supports. The one thing that worried us was the amount of time required to do the human resources aspect of it all. To be honest, we were totally exhausted both physically and mentally from being our sons primary caregivers. Our son was done with us as well. The natural separation that all children reach, for us, was extreme. While our family was functioning, we were not functioning well.
Our son moved into a group home for 8months but this just didn’t work for any of us, especially not for him. We researched many ideas and eventually chose to renovate our own home so that our son now has his own suite. He is in a wheelchair and has medical needs so a requirement was that he be on the main level, with his own outside entrance, and ceiling track system for lifts. We now live above.
It was during this research that we first heard of the Broker idea. This really fit with our wish to find great staff as well as our need to “Just Be His Parents”. We approached a friend of the family who was on board with our vision of an inclusive independent life for our son.
We started with our vision and set some goals – not really sure what everyone’s roles would be at the time. At present our Broker does pre-interviews, sets up the schedule, gets payroll information off to the appropriate places, checks in with staff and our son to see how things are going; mom trains new staff, signs payroll sheets and cheques; our entire family do the second interview with prospective staff; and our son makes the final decisions. We are constantly re-evaluating and adjusting roles as we set new goals.
We can’t put into words how much this has changed our family in just one year. We went from the constant worry of what the next roadblock would be and how big a hurdle that was, to a more positive attitude of if you believe it, you can do it.
As husband and wife we are now able to go to actual restaurants for meals and spend one-on-one time with our younger child. All things we weren’t able to do ever before, Family Managed Supports.
Our son has his own life, just as any other young adult, he is on the go constantly. He can do this thru his own entrance and we don’t even have to know about it. He is very calm and happy these days and his schedule is fuller than ours … as it should be.
Reg and Ellen Flory
Advocating: - Living with cerebral palsey and a developmental delay, my son is in his late-twenties now and has been living away from our family home for the last seven years. We've had experience with him living in a group home and then alone in his own home, both times with services provided by a PDD-approved agency. We had to make critical changes for my son to continue living in his own home with PDD's new Business Model of April 2009, though.
PDD's three new ways to deliver services was wither not acceptable or not available to us. To solve the problem, I was able to find a business-employer that provides the responsibilities, liabilities and accountability I would be required to take under an FMS agreement. I do provide supervision of the employer's performance and I still provide my son with "Financial Administrator" services to ensure all his bills are paid and his life runs smoothly, etc. All is working fine.
I would surely be happy to discuss the ins-and-outs, the how-to-do's and what I have learned about the process, with you if you like. You are welcome to contact me.
With Best Regards,
Sylvia Weist
- Our son turned 18 in January. We had heard that once a child turns 18, "there's a big black hole". We did not really believe it. We felt that our son and our family had been well supported for the past 18 years and thought that similar services, although different, would continue. In truth, it has been a difficult transition for us. Adult services such as AISH and PDD were new to us. We also had not previously been involved in agencies such as the Gateway Association for Community Living or Plan Edmonton. We were introduced to "family Managed Services" FMS, Employabilities and ERAPS. It was all very bewildering. Ten months later, we are starting to sort things out. It has been VERY challenging and stressful. At times we though our lives would be completely turned upside down. Now, we feel we have a greater understanding of what each agency does and how we can coordinate things so that our son continues to be supported at home and in the community and we feel that we have the respite we need as well. We would be pleased to assist anybody who is also facing the transition to adulthood in order to offer guidance and suggestions.
Karen and Steve Bayus
- The Self Advocacy Federation has a list of interested members available to offer mentorship to any person with a disability in areas such as bus training; living on your own; and budgeting. For more information contact SAF at (780) 452-6868, or
Finding/Hiring Staff:
- My son, Shane, is nearly 19 and lives at home with his parents, Debbie (me), Darcy and his older brother Jesse, a university student. Shane is very functionally delayed, non-verbal but a guy who loves exercise, particularly swimming, going to gyms, and bike riding. From day one, we have capitalized on these strengths, but recognizing early that we couldn't do it all alone, I have hired dozens of caregivers, many excellent, over the years to assist us. Shane was born in Toronto and moved to Edmonton at the age of five. I was very involved in the Down syndrome Association of Toronto, was a member of the board and put together its newsletter. I was in charge of publicity for both Edmonton Down Syndrome Association conferences, though I am no longer an active member. I've worked hard at advocating for Shane over the years, including meeting with school staff to debate policies, writing countless letters requesting assistance or challenging government roadblocks. Along the way, I've found that for the sake of your child, you cannot afford the luxury of sitting back and waiting for things to happen or change. You have to be persistent and sometimes pretty relentless in going after what is fair for your child.
I've always found it worked better for us to hire our own caregivers for Shane rather than relying on agencies, though I know others who feel differently. In my case, I know exactly what I'm looking for, and I have learned to be creative in finding good people who fit well into our home. If I can be of any assistance to parents who are struggling with finding caregivers or advocating for their children, I would be happy to offer whatever help I can.
Debbie Weismiller
Post-Secondary Education: - Despite being a primarily non-verbal person with autism, my son made it extremely clear that he expected to continue going to school after he finished high school at age 20. We applied for a couple of inclusive post-secondary programs for adults with developmental disabilities, but, even after great interviews, Anthony was not chosen for either of the positions. We spent a worrisome summer, wondering how we would fill Anthony's time in the fall, and trying to figure out something that would work. It was our summer community access worker who told us about NorQuest. We made an appointment to talk with someone in Learning Supports, who was open to testing our son to see where he might fit. Once the test results were available, we met with a couple of people to choose a basic math course that would give him a strong chance of success, and succeed he did! Since then he has taken a reading enhancement and a math course in his second semester and is currently taking a computer writing course.
The people at NorQuest have been very supportive of our Anthony, and his assistant. We have consistently been given opportunities to talk to the class about Anthony and about autism. The staff has been very appreciatve of Anthony's assistant and sincerely cares about Anthony's progress and how to help him learn. Because NorQuest offers programs to a wide range of students, they have courses that range from basic literacy and numeracy to specific vocational skills.
For those young adults who desire a post-secondary educational experience, NorQuest may be a fit. I have met several very helpful people at NorQuest and could mentor families who want a post- secondary opportunity for their son or daughter.
Deborah Barrett
- My husband and I have a daughter 19 years old who is currently living at home with us. She graduated from LY Cairns Jr/Sr High School in 2007 and attended Edmonton Public School's Transitional Support Program in 2008. This was an excellent program that I would recommend to any parent. Our daughter was very dependent upon us to transport her to activities and was not confident enough to venture out on her own with friends. Since attending this program, she has learned to take the ETS and has actually arranged shopping excursions with friends. This fall she was accepted into the On Campus at the University of Alberta. The program accepts only 11 students at a time but is an incredible opportunity for adults with disabilities to have the university experience. The majority of the cost is paid by PDD and then there is an additional cost of $100 per month. Each student is assigned a facilitator who helps them chose classes and accompanies them to and from classes until they are familiar with the university campus. The facilitator arranges mentors in each class the student attends so they do not feel alone and have support if needed during class. If the On Campus student desires, they can complete assignments and participate in exams, but it is not mandatory. In essence, they are auditing the courses. They are also required to take a community recreational class as well. We are very excited about this incredible opportunity for our daugher and although we are very new to this, please feel free to contact me as I would be happy to discuss our experience with anyone!
Deb Clegg
Financial Advice: - A Brighter Financial Future
For many years, the RRSP and RESP programs have offered Canadian families tax efficient ways to plan for their financial future. However, families who have a daughter or son with a disability have never had a way to provide for that child’s long-term financial security in the same way as for their other children.
Fortunately, that is no longer the case. The Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) is a federally regulated program that now addresses this need. Individual contributions and government grants/bonds, combined with tax deferred growth, make the RDSP a powerful investment option that has the potential to create a far brighter financial future for our relatives who have a disability.
Understanding the various aspects of the RDSP may appear a little overwhelming at first. For our family, setting up an RDSP for our own daughter, who is now 30 years old, was a little simpler because of my own work in the financial services field. It would be my pleasure to answer any questions regarding the RDSP or support you in setting up an RDSP for your own family member.
Carol Barchard
- The Self Advocacy Federation has a list of interested members available to offer mentorship to any person with a disability in areas such as bus training; living on your own; and budgeting. For more information contact SAF at (780) 454-0701 ext. 224 (note the new phone number), or click below to fill in the online contact form.
Would you like to be a Mentor? Being a Mentor does not mean you are an expert on a particular subject. It means you have been through the process before and may be of assistance to another family like yours. By being a mentor you only need to commit to answer any e-mails from another family. Families may e-mail to ask: questions, advice, for reliable/valuable resources you may have to help them through their process. If you are interested in becoming a mentor or have questions or concerns please contact:
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